ESPN.com - Golf Online - PGA Championship 2000 - Frozen moment: Dunlap keeps it going

By David Kraft
ESPN Golf Online
Friday, August 18

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Scott Dunlap had been here before. Actually, Dunlap's been just about everywhere -- the South African Tour, the Asian Tour, the European Tour, the Canadian Tour, the South American Tour, the Nike Tour and the outer reaches of the PGA Tour.


	Scott Dunlap has finished third three times on the PGA Tour.

But this time, he was on the 15th hole at Valhalla Golf Club standing over a 20-foot downhill par putt. Miss the cup and he was looking double-bogey squarely in the eye. Make it and he'd retain his early first-round lead at the PGA Championship.

History colored his view of the situation. A month ago at the British Open, Dunlap shot 68 in the opening round, leaving him tied for fourth place. He proceeded to shoot 78 in the second round -- a train wreck which started when he drove into a divot on the second hole and made double-bogey, shattering his confidence.

"I got hammered out there," he remembered. He also remembered missing the cut and the long flight home.

Dunlap had a chance to go either direction at No. 15 on Thursday. Despite battling a cold which hampered his preparation, he was 5-under -- thanks to a chip-in eagle on the second hole, a 35-foot birdie putt on the ninth and a tap-in birdie at the 10th. He maintained that through his tee shot at the 15th, which left him 144 yards to the flag.

Indecisive over what club to hit, he chose a hard 9-iron but pulled it left. Faced with several undulations between him and the flag, he left his third shot at the crest of one of course designer Jack Nicklaus' famous mounds in the middle of the green.

"It was stuck up on that hill," Dunlap said. "And I was looking down at a 20-footer."

Dunlap stayed composed. He studied the putt carefully. "It felt right standing over it," he said.

And he drained it -- center of the cup. He went on to birdie the par-5 18th and shoot 66, tying Tiger Woods for the opening-round lead.

"I'd done a lot of good until then," Dunlap said. "If I'd have made a (bogey), it wouldn't have been a big deal. It would have been if it had been worse. It was just gravy when that putt when in."

Being among the first-round leaders is gravy for Dunlap. He turned pro in 1985, but bounced around golf's fringes for a decade. He played in South Africa and Europe, learning to play in all kinds of conditions. He played in Asia, but says it wasn't much different from playing in the United States. "We were staying in nice hotels and eating at TGIFriday's," he said.

He finally earned his PGA Tour card in 1995, but was forced back to the Nike Tour in 1998. Back on the big circuit, he earned $533,027 last year -- 78th on the money list -- and has earned $795,028 this year, including a tie for third at The Players Championship.

"I think my overseas experience led me to being where I am on the PGA Tour," Dunlap said. "But we all know I have not won on the PGA Tour yet."

Dunlap came to Valhalla battling a cold which has caused him to wake up coughing at night. He didn't play at all early last week. He struggled in the practice rounds.

"I wasn't sure what to expect out there," he said.

The die-hard Republican -- "Politics is one of many things I will give you my two cents worth, and it's usually worth about that much," he said -- also came ready and willing to get into the political arena.

"I'll be voting Republican this year," he said without batting an eye in front of the world's media.

He said he won't have any trouble sleeping Thursday night. And despite some down time, he says he won't be tuned into Al Gore's acceptance speech at the Democratic convention.

Someone asked if he wouldn't be watching because of the party, or because he's concentrating on playing a major.

"I don't have any tee times at 8 o'clock at night when I could be watching the Democratic convention, so you can figure that one out," he said.

Just like he figured out his 20-footer on No. 15.